Global Overview

• Foreign investors announced a total of 2415 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in the tourism cluster between 2018 and 2022 according to fDi Markets, the greenfield investment monitor of the Financial Times. These projects involved a total capital investment of $175.5bn and created an estimated 388,000 jobs.

• While international travel continues to rebound from the coronavirus pandemic, the number of greenfield foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in the tourism cluster started its tentative recovery in 2022 after posting declines in both 2020 and 2021.

• FDI project numbers and job creation in the tourism cluster grew by 23% from 286 investments in 2021 to 352 in 2022. Job creation in tourism FDI over the period also increased by 23% to an estimated 36,400 in 2022.

• The sector entered 2020 off the back of a very strong FDI performance in 2019, with 753 greenfield projects announced — a 5.8% increase from 2018 and the peak year for tourism projects since fDi Markets began recording data in 2003.

• As one of the areas of FDI most affected by the coronavirus pandemic, tourism has taken a long time to recover from the initial shock of 2020 — when the sector experienced a 59% year-on- year decrease in the number of projects, dropping to 312. Capital investment in the sector also experienced a 70% decrease, with estimated capital investment dropping from $60.9bn to $18.2bn.

• The leading destination region for tourism FDI projects in 2022 was Western Europe with 143 announced investments at a combined estimated value of $2.2bn.

Facts and figures

• The US was the largest recipient of tourism FDI between 2018 and 2022 with 198 projects, followed by the UK (160), Spain (133) and Germany (133).
• The top 10 countries for tourism FDI attraction accounted for nearly half (47%) of all announced tourism projects globally between 2018 and 2022.
• Capital investment in the sector totalled $175.5bn between 2018 and 2022 with Spain being the leading recipient ($19.4bn), followed by China ($11.5bn) and the Philippines ($11.1bn).
• Job creation in tourism FDI was highest in Mexico between 2018 and 2022 with an estimated 31,000 jobs created in the sector, followed by China (22,130) and Spain (20,590).

1. Foreword
2. Global overview
3. International Tourist Arrivals
4. Asia-Pacific
5. Europe
6. Innovation
7. North America
8. Latin America and the Caribbean
9. Middle East and Africa
10. Sector overview
11. Companies